#unstable mutation

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Unstable Mutation

Artist: Douglas Shuler TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[jadethest0ne]

What do you like about the Red Sky 87 TMNT episodes?

The Unstable Mutation arc!

(oh and I like the character, Carter, too)

Not sure if that's an official name for it, but I'm a sucker for the story concept of slowly devolving into a monstrous being out of your control. Like, if y'all liked the "Good Genes" arc from TMNT 2003 or the whole "Savage Raph" thing from Rise of the TMNT, then this arc is like those, but on steroids!

I hope y'all are ready for me to ramble about one of my favorite parts of TMNT 1987, cuz that's what I'm gonna do! Thank you anon, for giving me that excuse reason! Heavy spoilers for TMNT 1987 below the cut!

Before I get into the arc, first let's have a quick overview of the "Red Sky seasons" of TMNT 1987. "Red Sky" is a fan-made name for the final 3 seasons of TMNT 1987.

For whatever reason, during those seasons the background artists started coloring the sky red. Those seasons also got a bit more plotty and dark, and had more over-arching storylines instead of being episodic. So they are referred to as the "Red Sky seasons" due to them being both figuratively AND literally more ominous!

For comparison, the Red Sky seasons are to TMNT 1987 what the Rise of the TMNT movie is to the rest of the series, or what the "Leo being thrown through a window" incident is to most other TMNT series.

And while my main critique of these seasons is that they were kind of still figuring out how to do chronological storytelling, so parts of it are a bit awkward (particularly in season 10), and there is also a severe lack of April O'Neil, it had some really cool concepts.

It introduced a pretty neat character, named Carter, who joins the turtles in fighting the bad guys:

And it had the Unstable Mutation arc (spoilers below)...

As the name suggests, the basic plotline of the arc involves the turtles' mutations becoming unstable, causing them to slowly transform into much more monstrous mutants, giving them a boost in abilities and physical prowess, but at a cost of intelligence and morality. In short, they get big and feral.

What I love about this arc is that it is actually paced rather well. They hint at it later on in season 8, follows through a slowly progressing destabilization throughout season 9, and then finally concludes in season 10 (the final season of the series).

It starts with them transforming suddenly, and very briefly at first, affording them a boost in strength and endurance, before they change back to their usual selves. However, another side-effect of the transformation is that it tires them out. Their first transformation literally knocks them out afterwards. As the story goes on, the transformations stay longer and of course often happen at very unfortunate moments, and it begins to effect their mental stability. As it progresses throughout the season, the unstable mutation threatens to become permanent as they lose themselves to the transformations.

Spreading the arc out in this way manages to keep up the tension really well!

Another cool aspect about the transformations themselves is that it's the first time that the turtles really look different from each other. For instance Leonardo gets some metallic-looking bits on his plastron and Donnie gets a cyborg eye. And I honestly wonder if "Rise of the TMNT" took some prompts from Raphael's unstable mutation design, because he's much spikier than the others.

The whole arc comes to a head when Donatello manages to find a way to stabilize their mutation, but due to some villainous shenanigans, Leonardo's transformation gets WORSE and they have to deal with that for a couple episodes.

The consequences of the arc even ties into the villain's main plot in the end, so it actually fits together quite nicely as a whole. The character Carter, that I mentioned earlier, also has a major plot to play in the whole arc, too, and he deals with similar mutation issues throughout. There's just so much going on in these seasons and it's epic and angsty and great!

If I had to choose, I'd still say season 1 of TMNT 1987 is my fave overall, but Season 9 (where most of this arc takes place) is a very close second, and it's largely because I think the whole "unstable mutation" idea was really well-executed!

Thank you again, for the ask, anon! I feel not enough people talk about this part of 1987, and this gave me the opportunity to talk about it!

[art-of-mtg]

Unstable Mutation (Ultimate Masters) - Slawomir Maniak

[5ecardaday]

Unstable Mutation (1st Level, Transmutation)

Casting Time: 1 Action

Range: Touch

Components: S

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 min.

Classes: Druid, Wizard

With your touch, overwhelming magical power rushes through a willing target’s body, creating unpredictable results. At the start of each of the target’s turns, roll 1d4. The target loses twice that many hit points, then gains a bonus equal to the result to one randomly determined ability score. The increase lasts until the start of the target’s next turn.

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[loreleywrites]

Arbitrary Card of the Day 6-30-17: Unstable Mutation

Today's arbitrary card of the day is Unstable Mutation. It may not be clear from this card's weird printed text, but it's basically the same as Consuming Fervor from Amonkhet. Unstable Mutation was a fan favorite back in the day, and I saw lots of people fondly remember it when Consuming Fervor was previewed.